Amid a big marketing push, California’s enrollment website for Obamacare coverage has suffered an unexpected outage due to software glitches.

The website problems come at a crucial time as the Covered California exchange tries to persuade more uninsured people to sign up ahead of a March 31 deadline.

The state exchange unveiled new TV commercials and radio ads this week aimed in particular at Latinos, who have been slow to enroll so far. The exchange is also urging more people to visit enrollment counselors, who rely on the state’s online system.

Covered California took its enrollment system down for scheduled maintenance and upgrades for 24 hours this past weekend. But problems have persisted and Thursday consumers were greeted by a message saying “the enrollment portion of the site is being worked on.”

You can still browse the site for expensive plans and compare expensive prices, and hey, maybe if you manage to put something in your cart, presumably the Obama administration can count you as an “enrollee.” But you can’t actually enroll.

California remains among the most successful of the state exchange efforts. As Joe Biden might say, this is “a hell of a start.”